Improvement in turbine water-wheels



" gti 5mm N 13ml @Blink A'BIJAH HU`BBELL,CF sALIsBRY, CONNECTICUT, AssicNoR To HiMsELacEoRcnv. CAPnoN-AND- P, n. CAPRCN.

Lene/'rs Patent No. 90,000,0mta1 May 11,1869.

IMPROVEMENT 1N TURBINI: WATER-WHEELS.

` The` Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom imag concern t i y Be it known that I, ABJAH` HUBBELL, of Salis bury, in the County of Litchfield, and State of Goni necticut, have invented certain new and useful Im@ provements in Water-Wheels; and I do hereby declare i y thatlthe following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specication, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, like letters indicatinglike parts wherever they occur.

To enable others skilled in the art to construct and use my invention, I -will proceed to Idescribe it,

My invention relates -kto that class of Water-Wheels, l known as centralfdischarge Wheels; andI the Wheel, all as hereinafterexplained.

`Figure 1 is a plan View of my improved Wheel and case, complete. l A Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section on the line l xfa: ofiig. l.

`In constructing my Wheel, which may be cast en'- V tire or formed of plates boltedtogether, I make a top and a bottom plate, B, in the form shown in iig. l,

'these 'plates being circular,` as usual, on theirexte-` rior, with an opening, or hole, at their centre, occupying about'one-third of the diameter of thewheel.

'lhis central opening,'ins'tead of beingcircular, asv is usually the ease in -such wheels, has a series of notches, o, cut or formed inthe plate, around the exterior of this central opening, as shown in iig. 1, the opening thus being made'star-shaped, or nearly so,

. as represented.

'lhe buckets consist of curved metal plates, inserted between the top and bottom platesB, the form of these buckets being shown by the dotted lines `a,'g.1.

" These buckets a-are arranged tangentially, as there.

shown, -and sothat the inner end oi1` ca ch bucket shall extendalong one side of the notch o, in the plates B, the other sideof the notch o `beingthe width of the mouth, or space, through which 'the Water is discharged between the buckets it.

rlhe Water, as it `enters the scroll, first impinges against and acts upon the outerconcavevportionof the buckets, and thenceis deflected toward the centre, still pressing upon the rear side `'of the bucket, until it arrives at the edge of lplateB, at the notch o', `when it is at once discharged, through the central opening below.

The position and form of -the buckets are intended to be such that the whole/power ofthe Water shall be utilized by the time it has reached the inner end-of` Y the buckets, and, therefore, the notched form is given Ato the plate B at that point, in order that the Water may be discharged free of the wheel, at the earliest possible moment afterit has lost its power, asany further detention of it within or upon the wheelwould only tend to retard its motion andV detract from its Instead of extending theshaft C down through the Y centre of the wheel, asusual, I secure it to the upper plate B, by means of three or more curved arms, j, as shown more clearly in iig. 2, the extremity of these arms f being rmly bolted to the plate B, and the arms frunitiug at the centre, and forming a hub, towhich the shaft C is firmly secured; or, if the shaft be of Vcast-iron, it and the arms f may be all formed in a single piece; v

Similar arms, f, are secured to the lower plate B, and-unite at the centre, to form a bearing, or hub, E, which is mounted upon a step, I, in the usual man- II'GI. y l

The shaft() is supported above by three arms, D, bolted `iirrnly, at their outer ends, to the case A, aild united at their inner ends, to form a hub,'or box, H,` which forms a bearing, or box for the shaft C, as represented in the drawings. Y l

By these means, I avoid extending the shaft through the `Wheel, and thus insure a larger and more open space for the discharge of the water, and thereby also lessen the chances of the clogging of the wheel by sticks or other rubbish.

, By this method of construction, I am enabled to produce a wheel of extreme simplicity and efficiency. Having thus described my invention, v What I claim, ls l. A Water-wheel, consisting of the plates. B, having the central notchedopening, and Vhaving the buckets a, formed and arranged in relation thereto, sub# stantially as described.

2. The shaft C, secured to the wheel by means of ii the arms f, so as to leave an unobstructed opening through the centre of the Wheel,-substantially.as described. l

. ABIJAH HUBBELL.

Witnesses: i

SIDNnYeP. ENsIGN, EDY ENsIGN. 

